Bad Teamwork! Kakashi Has A Plan!
by ZeldaFanDaen
Summary: After two weeks of Team 7's dysfunction, Kakashi is fed up, and so he decides to do something about it. His plan: too evil to be mentioned here. Now Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura must face their greatest challenge yet: each other. Will they survive? Pairs TBA
1. That's the Plan

Well, my recent Danny Phantom fic has been met with little more than silence and so I have left it. I, like most people, post these stories here to get feedback. I post them here solely for the purpose of reviews. I want to read constructive criticism. I want to know what you like and don't like about these stories. And so I will try one more time. I will post this story, and I will ask only that you readers tell me what you think. And sorry about what I uploaded earlier, something happened to it when I changed the file type.

I do not own any of these characters, nor do I make a profit from this piece of fiction. This message holds true for this and any subsequent chapters and will not be shown in any future chapters. That having been said, please enjoy the first chapter of, "Kakashi's Gambit"

"This is Hawk, I'm in position, sensei," said the young black-haired boy as he spied the target from behind the cover of a tree.

"This is Cherry Blossom, in position also," said the pink-haired girl from behind a large boulder several yards away from the boy. "Red ribbon on the right ear, that's definitely the target."

"Yosh! This is Fox, in position and ready to go, dattebayo!" said the young blond boy from the roof of a nearby tool shed. "Let me at 'im, sensei!"

"Geez, Naruto, it's not like we care where you are," said Cherry Blossom with a sneer. "Just shut up and wait for Sasuke to complete the mission."

"Will you both just shut up," said the black-haired boy, Sasuke. "You'll alert the target to our presence."

"Cut the chatter you three," came the voice of their silver-haired sensei. "Team Seven, you have a go for capture, don't screw it up!"

"Understood, sensei," came the bored reply from Hawk. "Just sit and watch, dobe, while I show you how it-"

"Yosh! I'm goin' in! The target's mine, dattebayo!!" came the loud interruption from Naruto. "Watch how awesome I am, Sakura-chan!"

"Damn it, Naruto! I told you to wait for Sasuke!" scolded Cherry Blossom, aka Sakura. "Just wait until I get my hands on you, baka!"

"You idiot, you're never going to catch it like that!" griped Sasuke. "I'll get it so back off!"

Suddenly there was a flurry of motion. Three young people rushed the target, two tried to catch it, one tried to knock the other unconscious, and all three slammed head first into each other and quickly became entangled in an impromptu brawl. Meanwhile, the small cat that was supposed to be their target was swiftly getting away, practically laughing at them. It never even saw the tall, silver-haired man until it was firmly grabbed by the scruff of its neck and hoisted into the air.

"You three are pathetic," said the silver-haired man to the three quarreling kids. "I suppose I have no choice… meet me in your old academy classroom tomorrow morning at seven, and don't be late."

With that said the silver-haired man, Kakashi, turned his back on his three students and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Morning dawned bright and early in the hidden ninja village of Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Walking side by side this morning were Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura, the young pink-haired kunoichi of Team Seven had found Sasuke not far from his home and decided to join him, as they made their way to the Ninja Academy. Sasuke, who had hoped to get to the academy without being seen, was not pleased by this. Sakura had not stopped talking since she found him and his head was beginning to hurt. She went on and on about his greatness, and their teammate's ineptitude, and their sensei's strange order to meet at the academy. Sure, he agreed with most of what she said, but he was still annoyed all the same by her incessant talking.

They arrived at the academy with about fifteen minutes to spare. Sakura was happy, thinking that she'd get fifteen minutes to spend alone with Sasuke before their teammate, Uzumaki Naruto, showed up to ruin her day. Sasuke was grumbling about how he wished Sakura would go away and let him have fifteen minutes of peace and quiet before having to deal with the blond-haired dobe. Both were shocked when they entered the classroom to see that Naruto was already there, and he seemed to have been there a while, considering how comfortable he looked, lounging at his old desk.

"Hey Naruto! What are you doing here so early," asked Sakura, rushing to catch up as Sasuke entered the room and walked to the front row to take a seat. She was even more surprised when he didn't answer.

Naruto just gave her an impish grin before getting up and walking to the chalkboard. His grin widened as he grabbed the chalky eraser and a stop stool and proceeded to wedge the eraser between the edge of the sliding door and the top corner of the door jamb.

"What the hell, Naruto," sighed Sakura, watching his antics. "Kakashi might have fallen for that on our first day, but there's no way he's going to fall for it twice."

"_Cha! Naruto no Baka! Using the same trick twice, how boring!"_ griped Sakura's inner self, the manifestation of her not so obvious mental illnesses.

Naruto just grinned at her and leaned against the wall opposite to the door, waiting patiently by the window. His patience quickly ended though and he soon began to amuse himself by drawing rude pictures on the chalkboard.

Two more hours later found a battered Naruto, half asleep at a desk, Sakura sulking after a wicked tongue lashing from Sasuke, and Sasuke brooding by the window with a bruise on his cheek courtesy of Naruto's fist. Suddenly the door to the classroom opened and in popped Kakashi's masked face, his single visible eye probing the room.

Down came the eraser, heading for the top of the hardened jounin's head. Suddenly there was a wisp of smoke and where Kakashi had just been standing there appeared a flatfooted Naruto. Kakashi, seeing the trap coming a mile away, had used the kawarimi no jutsu to switch places with Naruto, reclining comfortably at the desk to watch as Naruto's rehashed prank backfired on him. But the joke was on Kakashi. The Naruto that Kakashi had kawarimied with suddenly disappeared with a puff. Kakashi's eyes narrowed with suspicion as he watched the eraser fall towards the floor. It was then he noticed the thin, ninja wire tied to the eraser. His eyes followed the near invisible thread up to a small eye hook in the ceiling then further to a small latch. It was then he realized: Naruto had expected the kawarimi, he'd played Kakashi from the start. The ceiling tile above him had been replaced, turned into a cleverly disguised trap door, the latch to which was connected to the wire which was in turn connected to the falling eraser. Kakashi was so caught off guard by the double trap that he almost didn't react in time. But, thanks to another quick kawarimi with Sasuke, the brooding Uchiha suddenly found himself covered in pink paint which had spilled out from the trap above the seat that Kakashi had just been in.

But something didn't seem right. Where was Naruto? Why wasn't he rolling around laughing at Sasuke's plight? Suddenly, a faint hissing sound came to Kakashi's ears. It was coming from inside the desk he was sitting at. His curiosity getting the better of him, Kakashi looked inside the desk and noticed the inside was plastered with small, burning slips of paper. Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as he saw the exploding tags. There was just no way that Naruto would be that reckless, was there?! Kakashi didn't have time to answer that thought, or even think of an escape route. Suddenly there was a large bang and the slips exploded… into a puff of yellow powder. Kakashi's head and much of his face was covered in the yellow powder and suddenly Naruto was there, laughing his ass off at the fuming, murderous Sasuke and Sakura and the thoroughly annoyed Kakashi.

"_That was surprisingly well thought out," _thought Kakashi as he gave Naruto a withering look. _"Now, if only he could put that talent to use on missions…"_

Before Sasuke or Sakura could even get up to attack the blond prankster, Kakashi rose and walked to the front of the class, a serious look on his face.

"Hmm… how can I say this..?" muttered Kakashi, wiping the powder of his face. "My revised impression is… I am ashamed of you all. I should never have passed you three and I am very close to having Team Seven disbanded."

Kakashi gave his three students a very serious glare and for a moment nobody said a thing. Suddenly the silence was broken, by Naruto of course. He was on his feet shouting indignantly, lauding his triumphs and putting a lot of the blame for their low performance on Sasuke. Sakura soon joined in by yelling at Naruto and blaming him for their failures. Sasuke quietly remarked that both of his teammates were useless and that it wasn't his fault they were doing so poorly. Kakashi was not pleased in the least.

"That is enough! You three will be silent and listen!" he all but shouted. "Or so help me I will end your careers as ninja permanently!"

The reaction was instantaneous. Sakura and Naruto backed down and sent timid, almost scared looks towards their normally laid back sensei. Sasuke sent Kakashi an angry glare but held his tongue. None of them had ever heard Kakashi yell, not once in the two weeks since Team Seven began. They knew he was serious.

"Good," said Kakashi in a far more normal tone of voice. "Now that I have your attention, class can begin."

Naruto and Sakura took their seats as Kakashi began writing on the chalkboard. The lack of Kakashi's usual little orange hentai manga had them curious.

"Teamwork," he said, underlining the word on the board. "Since day one that is the lesson I have been trying to teach you three. It seems that so far you have failed to learn it."

"Sakura, in every mission we've had so far you have done everything in your power to pine over Sasuke and insult Naruto. You act so superior to him, but he far outshines you in strength, stamina, drive, and if his pranks are any indication then he even has you beat in ingenuity. Naruto does his best to prove himself and improve upon himself. You, Sakura try to take the easy way out in every mission. Sakura, for all your insults, Naruto is a far better ninja than you."

Sakura looked mutinous and was about to speak but a heated glare from Kakashi stopped her in her tracks. She contented herself by giving sad looks to the desk in front of her. Naruto, meanwhile, looked conflicted. He didn't like Kakashi being so harsh to Sakura-chan, but he liked the praise.

"Sasuke, I have not once heard you say a single kind word to either of your teammates. You hold onto your delusions of grandeur, believing that Sakura and Naruto will hold you back. But out in the real world, you're nothing, and you're even more of nothing without those two covering your back. Sure, you're taijutsu is best on the team and you know how to use your ninjutsu to their fullest potential, but that won't save you if you rush off without backup. Do you honestly think Itachi got as far as he did on his own? Do you think your brother is out there alone? If you want to kill him, you'll have to get through whatever allies he has first, and you'll never be able to do that alone, no matter how much stronger you get. Even Naruto knows that he is nothing without his friends."

Sasuke looked positively murderous. It took a large spike of killing intent on Kakashi's part to keep the young boy from attacking him. Naruto meanwhile was beginning to look smug. Finally, Kakashi-sensei was recognizing his brilliance.

"And Naruto… you're a disgrace," so much for that idea.

"Naruto, you have no focus, no discipline, and almost no brains to go with your brawn. You never think ahead, you never pay attention to the world around you; you're so lost in your fantasies, so eager to make a statement that you constantly screw up your every endeavor. Your skills are pathetic, your control is even worse. You have no chance of being Hokage. Unless you change, unless you start learning to behave like a shinobi, you are better off just giving up your dream because it will never happen."

Kakashi watched as the emotions played across Naruto's face. First surprise, then indignation, then outrage, then seething anger, and finally, thankfully, doubt and disappointment. Perhaps there was hope for Naruto yet.

"None of you even try to work well with each other; you don't pay any attention to your teammates, you simply do not understand each other. If you continue to behave this way when you are out on missions you _will_ die. Am I clear?"

Naruto gave a subdued nod from his seat in the back. Sasuke gave a grunt but refused to meet his eyes.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura quietly. "But… how can we improve?"

Kakashi smiled, not that it could be seen with his mask.

"I'm glad you asked that, Sakura. I happen to have a plan for that," he said. "A plan to make you three the greatest of all the genins, better even than some chuunin."

The three students were all ears, ready to hear this undoubtedly amazing plan. Kakashi reached into one of the pockets of his jounin flak vest and pulled out three black cloth chokers, each had a small, identical kanji stitched onto the center of them. Each was color coded for each of the three students: pink for Sakura, a dark blue for Sasuke, and orange for Naruto.

"The first part of my plan is to give you three something uniform to connect you all and make you _look_ like a team," said Kakashi, handing one choker to each of them. He grinned to himself as they put them on.

"Good, good. Now for the second part of my plan. Now that you have those on, you won't be able to take them off."

This was met with several loud outbursts of incredulity as they began trying, and failing to remove the chokers.

"Well then, onto the last part of my master plan, shall we?" asked Kakashi, his eye crinkling with his grin.

His students stopped their struggles and glared at him, wondering what more they would have to endure. Suddenly Kakashi was all business once more, his face set in a grim visage.

"Most standard formations, both in and out of combat do not require you to be outside of four yards from each other. And so, until I remove those collars, I mean chokers, from you, that will be as far as you can be from each other. Should one of you move outside of a four yard radius of either of the other two, the chokers will send an electrified pulse of my chakra into all three of you, giving you an agonizing shock. So, from now until I say otherwise, you three will eat, drink, sleep, bathe, and live together. Everything you do you will do together until you do everything in the same way, at the same time, every time."

Kakashi pierced the three shocked preteens before him with a fierce gaze before suddenly smiling.

"Oh, I've also taken the liberty of signing all three of you up for dance lessons," he said, his smiling growing behind his mask. "Attendance is mandatory."

"Have fun," he said with a smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves with the shunshin no jutsu. When he reappeared at his home across town he could still make out the faint sounds of his students screams of agony and outrage. He laughed to himself and pulled his favorite book from his tool pack, flipping it open to where he left off. He giggled perversely, knowing that the fun was just about to begin.

Well, there you have it. What wonders and trials await our heroes? I hope you enjoyed and please review.


	2. Undisputably Domestic Dispute

James: It's been a long time, far longer than I had ever expected. I dunno why I chose to update this one over the others, perhaps it was something the last reviewer said or something. But here it is, the second chapter. I'm not TOO happy with it, but hopefully it will stand up to the acclaim of the first one.

"Have fun," said Kakashi with a smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves with the shunshin no jutsu.

And just like that the spell of silence that the cyclopean teacher had cast upon his three students with his startling revelations came to a sudden and chaotic end. With a roar of outrage, Naruto was running for the second story window of the Academy classroom followed by a murderous looking Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura, still stunned from the horror of Kakashi's "lesson" was frozen by her uncertainty and barely noticed the two boys as the leapt from the window, Sasuke making for the roofs and Naruto freefalling towards the street, ready to take off in pursuit of their devil of a sensei. Tragically, they would soon understand in intimate detail what Kakashi had done to them.

Naruto's feet had barely touched the ground by the time he broke the four yard limit of his choker. The effect was instantaneous and his screaming voice mingled with the voices of his teammates as their chokers activated and they were wracked with several volts of electrical chakra. Stunned by the shock, Naruto collapsed in the alleyway while Sasuke, who was in mid-leap, missed his landing on the nearby roof. His two story fall was broken by the convulsing body of his blond teammate and Naruto had a new pain to scream about. Seconds passed like hours as the seals stitched into the chokers around their necks continued to fill Team Seven's bodies with electricity. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke managed to struggle to his feet, slowly trying to recover some of his dignity and push past the pain. Sakura, meanwhile, having figured out the danger they were suddenly in, was slowly making her way to the window, barely able to stand for the current running through her body. And Naruto, poor Naruto, who had just pushed himself to his feet and staggered against the outer wall of the Academy, was in for yet another bit of misfortune as Sakura finally made it out the window with all the strength and grace of a sack of flour. For the second time in as many minutes, Naruto found himself sprawled out on the ground with one of his teammates on his back. He was fairly sure that this time something broke. Probably a rib, he mused.

After untangling themselves and recovering a bit of their dignity, the genin of team seven decided to give up chasing down their thrice cursed sensei and took several moments to regain their breath. Now that they were closer to each other again, the shocks had stopped, but it would be hours before they stopped twitching from phantom pains.

"Damn you, Kakashi-teme when I get my hands on you I'll-," growled Naruto as he glared at the ground in front of him. He was quickly silenced by a fist impacting the side of his head.

"Shut up, Naruto no Baka!" screamed his pink-haired teammate. "If anyone should be damned around here it's you!"

Sakura was livid, that much was obvious even to Naruto. She was bruised, disheveled, and her hair was sticking up all over the place, despite her best efforts to comb it down with her trembling fingers.

"Look at what you've done to me," she cried, kicking Naruto for good measure. "I look horrible and filthy and because of you my dress is torn! You should just die, Naruto-baka! Stab yourself and save us all the trouble!"

For a long moment afterward there was nothing but a ringing silence filling the air. After spitting out all her anger at Naruto, Sakura looked down at him, expecting him to look mildly ashamed and start rubbing the back of his head like any other time he goofed up. What she didn't expect was the haunted look in his eyes or the first tears that broke through the dirt that had accumulated on his marked cheeks. Neither did she expect the sudden killing intent that radiated off of Sasuke as he directed a murderous glare at her.

"Sakura," the raven-haired boy said, his voice a dangerous whisper. "You're a bitch."

Sakura was about to break at those words, she was just about to fall down in tears when a roar of rage distracted her. The next thing she knew, Naruto's fist was colliding with Sasuke's face at terminal velocity, knocking the Uchiha to the ground.

"Don't you ever talk to Sakura like that again, teme!" roared Naruto, standing between her and her precious Sasuke-kun. Just like that, the broken look in Naruto's eyes was gone and with Sasuke and Naruto fighting each other in the street and trading curses as well as blows, Sakura's mind was able to latch onto the familiar and with a shriek, her own fist joined in to knock Naruto flat on his ass.

"Che! Leave Sasuke-kun alone, baka!"

With a huff the two boys turned away from one another as their anger cooled to a simmer. Still, with his back turned to them, neither of his teammates saw the small grin on Naruto's face as he reveled in his private mission accomplished.

A few more moments passed in silence before Sakura muttered about needing a shower. Just like that the small spell was broken and the three members of team seven turned away from each other to head home. They each took three steps in their chosen direction before remembering one important little detail that stopped them cold.

"Uhh…" was Naruto's ever eloquent response, "I think we have a problem."

"Hn, no shit, dobe," said Sasuke as he walked back over. "How are we supposed to go home?"

What followed was an intense moment of thoughtful discussion and fair debate as team seven carefully constructed a well-reasoned plan regarding housing arrangements, with each member calmly discussing the pros and cons of their individual plans until a consensus could be reached.

"Hn, you idiots aren't setting one foot in my home," said the Uchiha, giving both his teammates an annoyed glare.

Hoping to finally have a comfortable place to stay, Naruto of course sent his most effective and patented 'Puppy Eyes no Jutsu' at Sakura, once more earning him a bop on the head, courtesy of Sakura's fist.

"Hell no, Naruto, I am not letting you near my house!" was her reply.

"Guess we're staying at Dobe's place then," said Sasuke with a shrug, ignoring Naruto's sputtered protests.

"Well, if Sasuke-kun says so then it's decided. Lead the way, baka."

"Shouldn't we stop by your places first so you can pick up some of your things?" asked Naruto, hoping only to delay the inevitable.

It was not meant to be, however, as his reasonable question and thoughtful idea was met with annoyed glares from both his teammates.

"Naruto, I am tired, filthy, and stuck far too close to you for comfort. I want my shower and I want it NOW!" screeched Sakura, once more putting knuckle to knucklehead and effectively ending the argument. Sasuke just huffed in agreement, muttering about how he would send someone to get his things for him later.

With his head lowered in defeat, Naruto began to trudge back towards his apartment with Sasuke following silently as Sakura tagged along, doing her best to coax a smile from the brooding avenger. The walk took several minutes and soon even Sakura had grown blissfully silent, a bit stunned at where Naruto was leading them. Already the group had passed some of the seediest bars in the village and she could have sworn she saw a brothel. The streets were dingy, the alleys narrow and dark. The entire neighborhood was looking like a Red Light district slum. Sakura had no idea such a place even existed in Konoha.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour to the tired trio, Naruto came to a stop in front of a fairly large, but rather shabby looking apartment building. With a resigned sigh he slowly stepped up along the outside stairwell, climbing three stories up before stopping outside his own familiar door.

"Sorry, guys," said Naruto, his voice unusually meek. "My apartment's kinda messy right now and it's pretty small, but I guess you guys are welcome to come in and stay…"

His voice petering off at the end, Naruto inserted his key into the lock, his thumb deftly and secretly disarming a small trap that he had set up behind the doorknob. Meanwhile, Sakura and Sasuke were lost in their own thoughts. Sakura was appalled at the dirtiness of the building and was a bit put off by some of the profane graffiti painted on the walls and on Naruto's door. But Sasuke, who was far more familiar with the harsh nature of ninja life, was too focused on the forced entry and poorly concealed violence that surrounded Naruto's door. Here and there were small holes in the doorjamb and scratches all over the lock. Clearly they were made by kunai and shuriken and lock picks respectively. It seems that not even Naruto was safe in this neighborhood and from the looks of things; civilian thugs were the least of his enigmatic teammate's problems.

Still, Naruto paid none of it any mind and opened the door for his team, bidding them to enter. What they saw inside all but floored them. Naruto's apartment was small, even by economy standards. Sakura's bright mind quickly estimated the overall floor space to be no more than four hundred square feet, not even enough to fill out their rather limited range of space between them and she cringed as she realized the cramp quarters would make it all but impossible for any privacy. And then there was the mess! Ramen cups, scrolls, weapons, clothes, and all other imaginable and even some unimaginable things were scattered everywhere and it seemed Naruto had a bit of a roach infestation. Clearly this place was in bad need of a woman's touch. Sasuke, meanwhile, was focused again on the darker truths hidden within this tiny place. The whole place looked ready to crumble, there were holes in the walls from fists and kunai, faint traces of burns in the carpet and walls, and a few poorly covered up bloodstains here and there. The place looked more like a battlefield than a living place. For a moment, a single brief moment, Sasuke was beginning to entertain the thought of reaching out to his blond teammate, offering whatever help he could to save the dobe from a clearly violent lifestyle. That moment of course was ruined when Sakura screamed. It seems a roach found a liking to her toes and was crawling over her foot to explore them.

After a brief moment of Sakura rampaging against the insect life that shared Naruto's apartment, the blond shinobi decided to break the ice with an offer of tea. What he came out with was little more than dirty, tasteless water but it was a polite gesture all the same. Finally, after a few moments to calm down, Sakura demanded to be pointed to the bathroom and skulked off for her shower, but not before digging her knuckles once more into Naruto's skull.

"Don't you dare try to peek on me, baka!" she growled, sending Naruto a fierce glare, one which he seemed to take insult to, if his own glare was any indication.

"Whatever, Sakura," the boy seethed. "Just leave your clothes outside of the bathroom, I'll go ahead and put them in the wash for you."

This statement, of course, took everyone by surprise and Sakura was instantly on edge. But she knew Naruto wouldn't have the stones to pull anything on her, he'd be dead if he did after all, so with a shrug she sent him halfhearted thanks and retreated to the bathroom. Once inside she wasted no time in undressing herself, taking a moment to glare at her reflection in Naruto's dingy and cracked mirror. With undergarments still on, - she would never let that baka anywhere near her unmentionables! – Sakura cracked open the door and placed her dress and shorts just outside the door before locking up the bathroom tighter than the Hokage Mansion and beginning her long journey to cleanliness.

As Sasuke settled into Naruto's one and only chair to look around and wait for his turn at the shower, Naruto wandered over to the bathroom door and gathered up Sakura's clothes. Sasuke had expected him to wander off into a laundry room nearby but was surprised when Naruto moved over to his kitchen sink instead.

"What are you doing, dobe?" asked Sasuke, though he didn't really care. Honestly he was more interested in all of the jutsu scrolls scattered about. Some of them seemed to be rather high level stuff.

Naruto, meanwhile, was filling his sink with steaming hot water from the tap and added powdered soap, diligently scrubbing the suds into Sakura's clothes with a stiff bristle brush.

"What does it look like, teme," he growled, trying to get all of the dirt and grime out of Sakura's dress and idly looking at the torn seam along its side. "I'm doing the laundry."

Believing he had done as well as he could with the dress, he set the garment inside of his oven of all places, turning the heat on low before moving onto Sakura's shorts. Now, Naruto was never one to be called a pervert, but even he had to force back a slight nosebleed at the thought of how those shorts had been clinging to Sakura's thighs, which lead him inevitably to the thought of just what those shorts had been concealing. Still, he was able to shake himself out of his thoughts before they got too far and, sporting a mild blush, began to furiously scrub the smooth, elastic cloth until it was free of dirt and grime. Placing the shorts with the dress inside of his oven, Naruto closed the oven door and disappeared into his bedroom, coming out a few minutes later just in time to hear the soft ringing of the oven bell as the timer he set went off. Carrying a small box under his arm, Naruto opened up the oven and took the now mostly dry clothes out before settling himself on top of the counter and draping Sakura's dress on his lap. With a look of concentration rarely seen on his face, Naruto opened the box he had brought from his room and took out a long needle and a tattered old roll of orange thread and set to work.

Sasuke watched all of this with a mild fascination as Naruto worked hard at a simple chore that he himself had taken for granted. His own home had a full washer and drier, and whenever he ruined some of his clothes he would just buy new ones. But here was Naruto, dead-last of dead-lasts, using a surprising amount of ingenuity to work his way through the simple chore without any of the luxury that Sasuke himself enjoyed. And now the dobe was sewing! And from the way his fingers moved, Sasuke could tell the blond was doing a good job of it. Still, something nagged at him. The movements of Naruto's fingers was too nimble, too precise, to fit the mental image of his teammate. He could only ever remember seeing such dexterity from the top ninja of the village, ninja like his brother Itachi. For a moment, Sasuke's blood boiled in his veins, just the thought of his traitorous brother was enough to stoke his temper, but with a force of will, Sasuke bit down on his thoughts, turned away from Naruto and settled in for a nap as he waited for Sakura to get out of the bathroom.

The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. Sakura had come out of the bathroom to find her clothes already washed, dry, and surprisingly well repaired even if she did think the orange stitching looked rather tacky. She was ready to assume that Sasuke had done the repair job but shook it off. Surely Sasuke would have done a better job, but it wasn't likely he would do the job at all. Sewing is SO beneath him.

Sasuke took his shower next and did not bother leaving his clothes out to be washed. His shower was short and efficient, much like his attitude and he came out of the shower looking almost as if he'd never been in it, save for the dampness of his hair and the clean look of his skin. While Sasuke had been showering, Naruto must have been cooking because, out in the kitchen there was a pot filled to the brim with what appeared to be instant ramen. Sakura complained but was too hungry from the day's stress to decline, and Sasuke just didn't care: it was food. So Sakura and Sasuke ate in relative silence while Naruto took his turn in the bathroom. When they heard Naruto scream, however, Sakura nearly fell out of her chair and Sasuke, looking as if he just remembered something, palmed his face and shook his head.

"Right," he muttered to no one in particular. "I forgot to tell him, the hot water's gone."

That seemed to settle Sakura down some and since Naruto wasn't continuing to scream, she decided to turn back to her food. It would be another half hour by the time Naruto would come out of the bathroom. When he did he was met with a dark apartment, an empty ramen pot, his bedroom door locked with a sign written in pink for him to stay out, and Sasuke asleep in his chair, armed with a kunai.

Feeling the love and feeling exhausted, the poor blond just sighed in defeat and retreated back to the bathroom to sleep the night away in his tub. He'd be sure to have his revenge though, this he swore to the heavens.

"Bastards ate up all my ramen…"

James: I do have plans for chapter 3 already in the works so hopefully it won't be another three years before you can read that one. I am sorry this is going slowly but I am not the writer I used to be and after so long, I am rather rusty. Still, as always, I hope to hear reviews on my work. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Ja ne.


End file.
